All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Jeff Libby 

it depends on (1) your goals and, assuming your goal is to maximize return, (2) what your investment options are.  If the return you can get by investing in real estate is higher than your interest rate, it would be better to invest in that.  If not, your better off paying the mortgage.  For most experienced investirs on BP, including myself, our investment options are usually above the prevailing interest rate. FYI: I invest in deals generating 20%+.

Recommended Books

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Secrets of a Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker
Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter
Cash Flow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon Lechter
7 Strategies for Wealth & Happiness by Jim Rohn
The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to Be One by Peter B. Kyne How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie   

Real Estate
by Ken McElroy.
Confessions of a Real Estate Entrepreneur by James A Randel.
How to Manage Residential Property for by John T. Reed.
Aggresive Tax Avoidance for Real Estate Investors by John T. Reed
How I Turned $1,000 into Five Million in Real Estate in My Spare Time  by William Nickerson

Have you read any books you'd like to add? 

Just post the name of the book linked + the author below.

@Matt Heath  

@Joe Villeneuve 

Based on what I've read, my strategy sounds similar to Joe's however I'm sure there are differences when it comes to goals, investment criteria, property management, etc... Real estate investment is a personal journey, so I'd encourage you to start with your own goal and develop your own strategy to achieve it.  It would take a very long time to explain all of the risks associated with real estate investing, my strategy, and risk management techniques...  I have over 10 years of experience making mistakes, developing solutions, and implementing preventative measures to ensure these risks are minimized.

The more experience I gain, the more I see that one of the most essential components of real estate investing is risk management, but also property management, people management, market research, investment analysis are also essential (not in order of priority).

Some specifics:

My tenants (customers) are new families with 1-3 children.  I focused on acquiring properties that upper middle class residents find attractive.  They are well-built newer properties located within 20 minutes of city centers.    These rentals must generate at a minimum $400 of cash flow per month.  In order to achieve this, extremely strict expense management is essential.  Also critical are location the "right" tenant, minimizing vacancy, and developing an efficient low-cost property management model.

In order to grow, similar to other investors on BP, I also use cash-out refis and investor equity partners.

@Chad K. 

Yes, significant real estate investment experience.  You're chances without that are slim to none.  I would suggest getting the land tied up first with an option, then trying to partner with a more experienced investor/developer of student housing.  

Another suggestion: use specialized knowledge you have about the university, needs of students etc.... to acquire a multifamily apartment nearby and use this knowledge to provide added value and increase cash flow. This is how San Zell got started in student housing while a Michigan Law School student.  He started by helping to manage the property he was living in, then partnered up with an investor to acquire other multifamily nearby and turn them around.

@Stephen E.

To reward good tenants, I usually do $10-$20 Starbucks gift cards.   It's something pretty much all tenants will use, though I think even just sending Christmas cards would suffice.  If you send them Christmas cards, you'll already set yourself ahead from every other landlord they've ever had.

@Matt Heath

@Joe Villeneuve 
@Matt Heath

I agree with @Joe Villeneuve 's strategy. However, keep in mind that each deal must cash flow or else your investment career will be short lived.

Though there are things you can do to speed up your success, do not overlook the details. Each deal must stand on it's merits. It's best to do a few deals that generate substantial returns than many deals that generate lackluster performance. I'm a pretty conservative guy by nature and it's important starting out to make mistakes early and learn from them in an effort to develop a solid investment strategy that works for you and that you can replicate to generate solid cash flow.

Don't assume the following:

This guy has many properties, therefore he is a success. This can be completely false. Just because someone has 100 properties, does not mean he's making money. If his operating isn't build to efficiently minimize expenses and maximize profit, he could be hemoraging money. Between 2008 and 2012, I toured 100+ apartment deals in the Dallas area that were being sold by California doctors who owned lots of property, but unfortunately they were being mismanaged by their property managers and the doctors were headed for bankruptcy.

Financial independence through real estate investing is easy to achieve. Anything worthwhile to achieve generally takes significant effort, discipline, and sacrifice in order to achieve it. My brother recently told me he wanted to get into real estate investing and wanted to retire in three years. Last year, I quite my corporate job to focus on real estate investing full-time. This clearly made an impression on him. He saw the fruits and said, "I want those", but what he didn't see was the 10+ years of reading hundreds of books, making mistakes/developing solutions, and the enormous effort it took to develop the investment strategy I employ today. To pick the FRUIT you must start with the SEED and build the TREE. The SEED is you and and the TREE is your system that will consistently deliver FRUITS to feed you for life.

Making money is the only hard part.  Don't underestimate the difficulty of protecting and growing your money.  There are lots of people that can make money, but are very poor at protecting and growing it.  This is one of the reasons that any lotto winner loses their money pretty much immediately after they receive it.  It is also the reason that there are professional "investment managers".  The funny thing is that even many of these people are not good at protecting and growing their own money.

@Chad K.

You might talk to someone at the university in regard to setting up some kind of JV with the university. I know an investor locally who acquired acres of land around the new U.C. Merced campus. It's a very long-term hold, but he's now talking to the university about a JV where he'd develop student housing to help address the university's student housing needs.

@Chad K.

@Adam West

Yes, or rental rates are rising because of (1) an explosion of people moving into Charlotte continues to drive housing cost up (rents + prices), particularly from NY, (2) the student housing locations are also close in proximity to where other non-students want to live, and/or (3) rental rates for students are higher because investors need to compensate them selves for greater damage and higher turnover costs.  I don't invest in student housing, but I can tell you that in Berkeley, CA (where I reside), rentals in student housing locations (closer to the U.C. Berkeley) are higher than in locations further from campus.

No one has said it yet, but whether a landlord would allow pets or not very much depends in the quality of the house, neighborhood, and quality and level of responsibility of the tenant that resides there.  Class A/B tenants who are responsible will take good care of their pets. Tenants who are not responsible WILL NOT. It's really that simple.

So if you allow pets depends on your specific investment model.

Yup @James Wise  that's the stuff I use too.